New call for manufacturing protectionism

Former Union boss come Katter Party member Dean Mighell is spearheading a push for more government protection of Australian manufacturing.

His is the latest in a sting of calls for a move away from free trade towards more protectionist policies.

In recent weeks fruit cannery SPC Ardomna has called for emergency tariffs, Queensland beef producers have visited Canberra requesting the government buy up surplus beef and grain growers have sought government backed loans.

Dean Mighell says free trade agreements are not a level playing field.

"FTA's have thrown us directly on to world markets to compete, the problem is, it's not a level playing field.

"That's what's killing us, Australia's on the way to becoming a net importer of food, that's going to be devastating to Australian farmers.

Mr Mighell says he believes Australians would be happy to loose the advantages of FTA's if they knew they were protecting Australian jobs.

"The reality is, if we protect Australian produce and manufacturing, we may have to pay a little bit more for our food, I'm ok with that.

Mick Keogh of the Australian Farm Institute is a strong proponent of Free Trade Agreements and says the decline in manufacturing is the result of other market factors.

"It's evidence of what economists call the "Dutch disease", where the effects a boom (such as mining) has on the exchange rate and labour costs, make other industries un-compedetive.

"If you look at the access to markets we've gained globally it's been quite enormous.

"There's a whole range of markets, not least of which is China, which had enormous tariffs on agricultural imports, up to 150 percent, it's accession to the WTO meant it had to drop all of those and we've seen enormous growth to exports since that time.

"We rely so much on export markets we have to keep access to those open, which means allowing imports in.

Mr Mighell says the government has to take some responsibility for the impact of the mining boom.

"There's no understanding of what it takes to keep other industries vibrant and keep people in those jobs.

"What happens when we're no longer a quarry, digging up our minerals? What will we have left for our kids?

"Government must start to take on board the long term future of this country and FTA's haven't been applied fairly.

Mr Keogh disagrees.

"I don't think blaming the FTA on the current situation is way too simplistic.

"The issues that do need looking at are things like labour flexibility and work place rules, allowing more flexibility and more things to get done.

"We have to work out ways to do this better and smarter, that will help us be more competitive, more regulation and paperwork isn't going to help that.